State of Rhode Island secondary Archives: on Jobs

Raimondo is also facing a primary challenge from Matt Brown, a former secretary of state of Rhode Island. Brown dismisses Raimondo's talk of a modern industrial revolution as pure hype. "I just don't think it's accurate and I don't think most Rhode
Islanders think it's accurate," Brown said.

The economic facts that matter to most Rhode Islanders, according to Brown, are that the costs of health care, housing, education and child care have gone up, and continue to go up, while wages have
"flatlined." "That basic fact means life has gotten harder for people and continues to get harder," Brown said.

Yet, a July 19 press release from Governor Raimondo's office trumpets 2,500 jobs created in June, "another all-time high jobs record," and
an unemployment rate of 4.3 percent, the lowest unemployment rate since 2001. "This jobs report is another clear sign that our approach to economic development, commitment to job training and support for tourism is working," Raimondo says in a statement.

Gina Raimondo:
Give everyone chance for dignified work at a decent wage

We still have a lot of work to do to ensure that every Rhode Islander has a chance for dignified work at a decent wage. When I was a kid, most people earned a high school diploma and went right to work. There was a pretty simple deal back then:
Finish high school. Work hard. And get a decent job to support your family. You could buy a house, take a modest vacation--maybe to one of our beaches in South County or on Block Island.

There was dignity in work.
There was pride in what you built and what you made. For too many though, that deal is now out of reach. So let's invest in our middle class. Let's put that deal back on the table here in Rhode Island.

In 2015 we raised the minimum wage.
Last year, I stood with many of you to try raise it again. And we fell short. The budget I'll submit will once again raise the minimum wage. This time to $10.50 an hour. No one working full time should live in poverty.

Source: 2017 State of the State address to Rhode Island Legislature
Jan 17, 2017

Bobby Nardolillo:
Don't raise minimum wage to $9.60 per hour

Excerpts from legislation:H 5074: A bill to increase the minimum wage [adding new rate for 2016]:

After a 2007 layoff from a print manufacturing company, Zaccaria started his own company, Rustin Marketing Services.
A recipient of unemployment benefits for 20 of a potential 26 weeks, Zaccaria cites Reed's repeated push for extended benefits as an example of the "progressive, depend-upon-government" agenda that Reed supports.

Donald Carcieri:
Americans' top priority: put people back to work

Last month, 43 states saw their unemployment rates rise--many to new highs. Clearly, the national economic recovery is still very fragile, and the message from Massachusetts last Tuesday [in the election of Republican Senator Scott Brown] is clear:
Americans want Congress, the President and all their elected officials, to concentrate on the things that are most important to them--get the economy on track, put people back to work, and protect us from terrorists.

Source: Rhode Island 2010 State of the State Address
Jan 26, 2010

The above quotations are from State of Rhode Island Politicians: secondary Archives.